The Showroom, the London-based contemporary art practice that was established in 1983 to help artists stage their first solo shows in the city, has announced the appointment of its new director, Elvira Dyangani Ose. She will succeed Emily Pethick and will assume her responsibilities on September 3.

Dyangani Ose joins the Showroom from New York’s Creative Time, where she works as senior curator. She is also a lecturer in visual cultures at Goldsmiths and is a member of the Thought Council at the Fondazione Prada. Among Dyangani Ose’s recent curatorial projects is “Basilea”—Creative Time’s first international project—which made its debut at this year’s Art Basel.

“Her specific interest in arts in the public space and socially engaged practices fit perfectly with the collaborative and community-based approach at The Showroom and I very much look forward to seeing what she will bring as its new director,” said Julie Lomax, the chair of the organization’s board of trustees and the director of development at the Liverpool Biennial. 

Commenting on her new appointment, Dyangani Ose said: “Most of my theoretical work has focused on new forms of environment produced by artists in the absence of conventional institutions and contexts. The chance of continuing research and curatorial projects on the formulation of such experience as institution, as well as providing a platform for experimental artistic practices under the umbrella of The Showroom, is extraordinary.”